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Compact
The Compact is the only shield we have against the Terran sword, for we have incurred its wrath a thousand times over - Algan Diplomat The Beneficial Compact, more commonly called the Tripartite 'or previously the '''Compact of United Defense, '''was formerly an intergovernmental strategic alliance between three different alien nations, the 'Algan Republic, Rixian Galactic Directorate and 'Faraxian Union. '''At the height of their power, they were considered to be the major power of the sector of the galaxy, as well the bitter political, economic and military rival of their neighbor the Greater Terran Union. History Origins The Compact had its origins in the early days of galactic politics, at a time when the GTU and other respective star-nations began exploring the galaxy, laying stakes and claims on whatever valuable star systems were in their vicinity. Much of the seeds of rivalry between the GTU and the future Compact could be traced further back to the first contact between the expansionist GTU and the equally expansionist Algan Republic. The ensuing territorial claims along their border eventually led to the souring of relations between both sides, which was further exacerbated by ambitious Algan politicians using the Terran issue for their own political interest, as well by the Terran propaganda network. However, it wasn't until the GTU established contact with the Rixian Galactic Directorate and the United Clans of Skiron, that the foundation of Compact (as well its resulting conflict) was laid down, beginning with the formation of the Algan-Rixian Alliance that solidified its position as the foremost military power of their sector of space. Tension began to flare up as the GTU and UCS formed a mutual defense pact with each other after the Algan Republic, seeking to win political points back home, decided to back the territorial claims of the Rixians and the Faraxians at the expense of the Skiron, leading to the '''Great Skiron War/'First Terran-Compact War, forcing the GTU to honor its commitment to their pact and deploy their fleet. Nevertheless, despite the GTU earning multiple major tactical victories along the Terran Front, the Terran states were militarily unable to break through the Compact's territories to aid their increasingly beleaguered Skiron allies, thus handing over the overall strategic victory firmly into the hand of the Compact's member states, and the GTU-Skiron coalition was forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of Alga. The terms lead to the Skiron's territory being greatly reduced, the GTU-Skiron coalition dismantled and, in an act of arrogance that permanently soured the relationship between the Compact and GTU, the Terran banners were thrown down right in front of the attending High Marshal to be stomped on by the Compact's marching soldiers and subsequently burned to 'confirm the superiority of the Tripartite nations'. By the time the victory celebrations were slowly receding, it became clear in the eyes of the Compact's leadership that, rather than ending the threat over their nations, the worst threat to its very existence and sovereignty had been created. With the Greater Terran Union quickly recovering from their post-war recession, it quickly rose up to become a major power in the galaxy, far too quickly for the Compact to contain. And thus, exactly 3 Algan years (or 3.7 Earth years) after the war ended, the Compact evolved from a military pact into a quasi-federal interstellar alliance, in the hope countering the threat of the increasingly powerful GTU. Downfall By the 26th century, the Compact was nothing more but a shadow of its former self. When the Union of Nimerium had been firmly established as a GTU puppet state and the legitimate government of Polenian people, the fate of Algan Republic was effectively sealed. The Faraxian Union as a state was effectively crippled by its perpetual economic depression, while the still-stable Rixians were forced to shoulder much of the burden in keeping the fledgling alliance alive. But it was too late. After the Final War against the Compact, its members were defeated by the legions of the Terran military, its own combined forces now unable to mount any meaningful resistance against Terra, let alone achieving parity against their technologically-superior foes. By the end of the war, all three defeated nations were forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of London, effectively stripping away the independence of the Algan Republic and Faraxian Union in a single stroke. The Rixian Galactic Directorate was granted the Special Region title, with any semblance of its sovereignty existing in name only. As a symbolic act of their defeat, the very banner of the Tripartite nations was brought down in front of the attending Marshals, military officers and citizens of the GTU before being stomped on by the marching Union's guard of honor as a way to 'return the long overdue favor', effectively ending the existence of the Beneficial Compact. Resurgence The Compact might have been dead in an official form, but many of the loyalist rebels within the GTU puppet states remained loyal to the idea of a new Compact that would unite all of its former members into a strong alliance to crush humanity's hegemony. Already the Algan Workers Revolutionary Faction (AWRF), a rebel faction ironically inspired by the old humanity's communist ideals, declared in a hijacked transmission that the new Workers Compact would be formed if everyone rose up against Terra. This dream would not be realized as the Department of Justice and Order sent a task force to the location of the transmission and exterminated this fringe group. And the Compact remained as it was in the eyes of the galaxy; a revolutionary ideal that was merely the pipe dream of a defeated species. Politics Despite being more of a military alliance than a fully-pledged federation, the Compact was nonetheless founded as a strong, ideal democracy, with its member-states (and prominently the Algan Republic) in the early days often working together to strengthen their alliance into a unified nation. However, after several decades of existence, the Compact began to show its cracks. The democratic republican ideals of the Compact were eventually abandoned in favor of aggressive militarism, being devoted fully to the annihilation or defeat of the Greater Terran Union, as well as the ‘liberation’ of the Terran citizens. This was further compounded by the growing imbalance of power within its member states. In the earlier days, the Compact was founded under the existing balance of power between the Algan and Rixian governments, creating somewhat of a check of balance that tied the Compact altogether. The expansionist policies of the Algan into the Outer Rim region did, if not intentionally, allow the Algan Republic to become the predominant economic, industrial and military power within the Compact due to being backed by its rich resources from its Outer Rim colonies. This resulting action led to the growing rift between the Rixians and the Algan-Faraxian axis, as the Algan politicians quickly capitalised their nation’s prominence in the Compact for their short-term political gains, often at the expense of the balance of power with their Rixian allies. Nonetheless, it was the Algan’s very dependence on their Outer Rim resource economy that led into its gradual downfall, as the Terran invasion of the Algan’s Outer Rim colonies in the Third Terran-Compact War created a significant decline in the Algan’s prestige and economy. It was such a setback (and among many things) that by the outbreak of the Final Terran-Compact War, both the Algan and their Faraxian allies were effectively reduced into failed states, leaving behind the Rixians as ironically the only member-states that were politically stable enough to bear the burden of continuing the Compact’s survival. Its political history remained a source of intrigue among the academic societies of the GTU and the democratic Star Concord’s academia, who often saw the Compact as the lesson of democracy and how democratic institutions can collapse due to dis-unity and the short-sightedness of its self-serving politicians. Economy Until the beginning of the Third Terran-Compact War, the combined economies of the Compact was one of the richest in the galaxy, with its economic prowess equal to that of the Greater Terran Union. It is the reason why, despite being technologically inferior compared to the GTU, its collective industrial capacity allowed all three nations to support its military to achieve a level of parity over the GTU’s military juggernaut. One of the more prominent industries include the shipbuilding industry (on par with the GTU at its peak) and the Algan’s famed mining industries in the Outer Rim, the latter was such prominent that at its peak, it supplied nearly half of the mineral resources to the myriad of the Compact’s industries. However, economic mismanagement and the attrition war against the powerful GTU had led to many of its once powerful industries and economies to be chipped away gradually in the ensuing war. The Compact eventually found itself in mounting debt to the Pux Directorate and the Florian Matriarchy, which had made large purchases of sovereign debt to the point that it exceeded the Compact’s ability to service. By the end of the Compact's existence, the Rixian Galactic Directorate was effectively the only member-states that was economically stable, putting even a bigger burden on the beleaguered nation as it tried to avoid triggering sovereign default in the midst of the final war. Appendices * Many of the the aspects of the Compact (at least for the current edit) is largely inspired from the Free Planets Alliance from the anime Legend of Galactic Heroes. Unlike many other contemporary space opera such as Star Trek and Star Wars, the anime primarily themed around the struggles of a bloated republican democracy (FPA) against their ideological opponent, the autocratic Galactic Empire. * The Compact bears many resemblances (at least in term of its political structure) with the NATO and the European Union, being a close-knit military alliance and a loose confederacy (again, at least for the current edit) * All of the member states of the Compact were player submitted empires in a contest held by the Templin Institute.